MONTAGUE — When two parents died in a head-on crash earlier this year, members of the motorcycle club, the Mohawk Ramblers decided to plan their annual charity ride Saturday to benefit the three children orphaned after the crash.
The annual charity ride is starting from Cherry Rum Plaza in Greenfield. The event will benefit the children of Millers Falls residents Anthony Darling and Brittney Wheeler, who died in the crash in Montague Center on Route 63 in late February. The charity ride typically takes place on the weekend following Memorial Day.
After the tragedy, the family received an outpouring of support from the Montague and Millers Falls community. “I was very grateful that they would even consider my grandchildren,” said the children’s grandmother, Raquel Felkner, who lives in Florida. “I could never thank everybody enough.” After the accident local firefighters also donated three new car seats for the children, the oldest Odin, 5, Lugh, 3, and Eira, 1.
The children now live with their legal guardian, Bobbi Hamel in Athol. She said she was overwhelmed by the generosity of the motorcycle crew. “I was speechless. I couldn’t believe it. I was happy. Words can’t even describe how I felt. It’s nice to know that people really, really care and are looking out for the children and are helping us any way that they can.”
Hamel was Wheeler’s foster mother and has known the children since they were born and considers them her grandchildren. The court awarded her co-custody of the children with their maternal aunt, Reda Stevens. “They may not be my blood babies, but I’ve known them since they were in the belly,” she said.
John Burek of the Mohawk Ramblers said that raising money for the children was an easy decision. “The ramblers decided that this was a worthy cause,” he said. “It’s certainly a tragedy. It’s a tough spot to be in. What are you going to do?”
The charity ride last year benefited Bikers Against Child Abuse, an organization dedicated to empowering and creating safe spaces for children who were victims of child abuse.
This year, the club is hoping that 75 to 100 bikers show up for the charity ride. The group has already received a lot of interest from the public, said Burek. “We hope to do the best we can, sometimes a lot of people show up and we make a lot of money and some years not a lot of people show up and we don’t make a lot of money,” said Burek.
Bikers will gather around 9:30 a.m. for coffee and doughnuts and will take off on the ride at 10:30 a.m. Each rider pays $10 and passengers are asked to contribute $15.
The ride will take bikers north on Route 5 and then they will head east on Route 2, ending the ride back at the Mohawk Ramblers clubhouse on Bartlett Road on the Lake Pleasant side of the Montague Plains.
Those who don’t ride motorcycles are welcome to come to the cookout for hot dogs and hamburgers from 1:30 to 4 p.m.